The formation of absorbent garments for use as diapers, incontinent garments or feminine care products has generally involved the combination of an impermeable backing material, a bodyside permeable member and an absorbent placed therebetween. The body exudate placed upon the pad is intended to pass through the liquid permeable layer and be absorbed by the absorbent. The liquid impermeable backing material prevents the exudate from passing through the pad and staining the clothes of the wearer. It has been found that the consumer would prefer not to look at the exudate absorbed by the pad. Therefore, there has been a desire to provide pads for absorption of human exudate with permeable members that will mask exudate that is absorbed within the pad.
It has been proposed the perforated film materials be utilized for the bodyside liners of feminine care pads and diaper garments. Such materials are disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0,039,974. However, these materials have the disadvantage that many users consider them unpleasantly hot and sticky to wear when against the skin. Perforated film materials having a high loading of the opacifying agent and an open area of between 1.3 and 35 percent of the total area of the facing have been disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0,172,420.
Spunbonded materials have been used as cover materials for pads for absorption of human exudate. Spunbonded webs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,942 - Bernardin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,979 - Sciaraffa et al. - suggests the use of titanium dioxide to make a liner sufficiently opaque to cover discoloration. It has also been proposed in U.S. Ser. No. 774,252 filed Sept. 9, 1985 - Van Iten et al. to perforate standard spunbond cover material to increase its ability to pass small clots and improve appearance.
There remains a need for a low weight, large pore liner material that is low in cost, provides good masking of materials absorbed into a pad and is not hot or uncomfortable to the wearer.
Masking is beneficial to the customer by giving a perception of cleanliness. Masking is measured as the reduction in intensity of a black pattern beneath the surface of a pad cover. Masking is measured instrumentally using image analysis equipment.